Spencer, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – The Iowa Lakes Men’s Soccer team come into the 2026 season as the #6 ranked team in NJCAA Division II.  A tough schedule opened up on Thursday against the #1 ranked team in NJCAA Division I, and defending National Champions of the same division, Indian Hills.

The Lakers got their first official goal on the year to take an early 1-0 lead as Miguel Prieto scored in the matches 7th minute.  Iowa Lakes controlled possession for much of the first half and held that 1-0 lead going into the break.

The Warriors began to seize some momentum toward the end of the first half and broke through with a Furkan Cengizay goal in the 49th minute.  Iowa Lakes tried to immediately strike back, but some strong Indian Hills defense, led by keeper Sean Suzuki kept the match tied at 1.

Momentum continued to slightly favor the Warriors, and after a collision between Iowa Lakes keeper Alfie Venners and an Indian Hills athlete was called a penalty against Venners, setting up a Penalty Kick for the Warriors.  Leo Morley-Robertson lined up and found the back of the goal to give Indian Hills a 2-1 advantage.  Venners would exit immediately after with an injury, bringing in Kohki Takeichi.

For much of the remainder of the game, Iowa Lakes struggled to gain back momentum trailing 2-1.  Finally, in the 79th minute, a foul was called against Indian Hills from around 30 yards up the field from the Goal, in the middle of the pitch.  Ace Miller lined up a perfectly delivered kick past Suzuki to tie the match at 2.

That score held through the final horn, as the match ended in a draw.

Iowa Lakes out-shot Indian Hills 42-33, but the Warriors had the edge in Shots on goal 12-6.  The Lakers took a couple of Yellow Cards to 3 issued against Indian Hills.

Up next for Iowa Lakes is another home match at 4:00 on Tuesday against Illinois Central before the Lakers go to St. Louis over next weekend where they will play St. Louis and Pearl River.